Mayor ready to wear face mask if needed

May 22, 2020 | 8:04 AM

Vernon’s mayor says he has not worn a face mask so far, but he will if the situation requires it.

Victor Cumming says to this point, he’s been careful about keeping the required two metre distance from others when he is out in public.

“I will continue to be very careful,” Cumming told Vernon Matters.

Canada’s chief public health officer is recommending people wear a non-medical mask in situations where physical distancing isn’t possible.

At this point, the city hasn’t issued any sort of statement on wearing masks.

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“I think the answer there is we’ll be looking to our directive from Dr. Bonnie Henry from the province. The City of Vernon has been following directions very closely, and if we get a directive from the [Health Ministry] we will definitely be following it,” said Cumming.

Meantime, the mayor said he’s pleased to see the creative solutions being used by local businesses under the new safety guidelines.

“Some of them are obviously moving on it right now, whether that’s our local veterinarians, mechanics, equipment rentals, the high demand retail operations; just very creative solutions to trying to keep their businesses operating, and to provide the services people want and need.”

Cumming says that includes small retail stores incorporating physical distancing, to garden shops using flags outside to indicate how many customers are inside, and new methods used by auto shops.

“It’s neat to see the mechanics that come out to the car and wipe everything down, and then drive it into the bay for you, and wipe it all down when they’re finished and you can drive it away. These are organizations that are really taking it really seriously.”

Cumming said it’s too soon to say if the restart has added more vibrancy to the city, as a number of merchants are still putting their safety plan together before reopening.

“It’s only been a couple of days, but I have been at a couple locations today which were operating at a very low level during the Covid. The doors were wide open and staff were brought back.”

by Pete McIntyre

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